big crunch
Loud crushing sound
The big crunch is a theoretical end of the universe in which gravitational forces halt cosmic expansion and reverse it, pulling all matter back together into a singularity—the opposite of the Big Bang.
The theory has fallen out of favor as evidence suggests the universe's expansion is accelerating rather than slowing.
Sudden structural failure
- universeComplete system or domain
- contractionReduction in size
- gravityMutual mass attraction
- implosionViolent collapse inward
compression · singularity · spacetime · density · convergence · cosmic · reversal · expansion
Science of heat-energy relationships
- disorderAbsence of organization
- second lawEntropy inevitably rises
- heat deathUniverse's final entropic state
- dissipationGradual loss or scattering
equilibrium · irreversibility · decay · arrow of time · closed system · degradation · chaos · randomness
collapse
Sudden structural failure
- universeComplete system or domain
- contractionReduction in size
- gravityMutual mass attraction
implosion · compression · singularity · spacetime · density · convergence · cosmic · reversal · expansion · heat death
thermodynamics
Science of heat-energy relationships
- disorderAbsence of organization
- second lawEntropy inevitably rises
- heat deathUniverse's final entropic state
dissipation · equilibrium · irreversibility · decay · arrow of time · closed system · degradation · chaos · randomness · microstates
- astrophysicsblack hole, neutron star, supernova, black holes, neutron stars
- Fringe Sciencecold fusion, perpetual motion, alchemy, astrology, phrenology